Welcome to the blog of the California Teachers Empowerment Network. CTEN is a non-partisan, non-political group dedicated to providing teachers and the public at large with reliable and balanced information about professional affiliations and positions on educational issues.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Dear Colleague,

Richard Lee Colvin, former Executive Director of Education
Sector and currently a Visiting Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship
Foundation, has written an article for the Spring 2013 Education Next, in which he claims that

A new analysis
examines the growing array of groups spawned by the “teacher voice” movement,
which promotes opportunities for teachers to have much greater involvement in
shaping and improving their profession than they have had under the traditional
union-dominated system. More than half of all teachers now have fewer
than 10 years of experience, and this younger generation is driving the
movement.

In another piece in the same issue of Education Next, writerJune
Kronholz, documents the amount of education lost when a teacher calls for a
sub.

…Duke researchers
found that being taught by a sub for 10 days a year has a larger effect on a
child’s math score than if he’d changed schools, and about half the size of the
effect of poverty. Columbia researchers Mariesa Herrmann and Jonah Rockoff
concluded that the effect on learning of using a substitute for even a day is
greater than the effect of replacing an average teacher with a terrible one,
that is, a teacher in the 10th percentile for math instruction and the 20th
percentile in English instruction.

The history wars continue. Professor Larry Schweikart
recently came out with “A Patriot's History of the Modern World: From America's
Exceptional Ascent to the Atomic Bomb: 1898-1945” as a follow up to his 2007
tome, “A Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus's Great
Discovery to the War on Terror.” Whereas too many modern textbooks give a
revisionist brand of history (and in Howard Zinn’s case, a fictitious one), Dr.
Schweikart’s heavily documented tomes go into great detail to ensure the reader
that there is a singular truth to be learned. To read more about Dr. Schweikart
and his books, please go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Schweikart

On a similar note, back in 2010, AEI launched a major new
initiative,

…the Program on
American Citizenship, dedicated to strengthening the foundations of American
freedom and self-government by renewing our understanding of American
citizenship. The ultimate goal of the Program is to deepen Americans’
appreciation for and attachment to those principles that are necessary to keep
the United States free, strong, and democratic.

AEI is now in its second phase of its program, “Counting on
Character: National Heritage Academies and Civic Education.” This part of the
initiative focuses on National Heritage Academies (NHA) charter schools. Here
they focus on Ridge Park, a NHA school. Every day starts

with
the Pledge of Allegiance, the Star-Spangled Banner, and the school creed: “I am
a Ridge Park scholar. I strive to achieve academic excellence. I exemplify high
moral character. I work

diligently to prepare for the future . . .”
Character education is ubiquitous and relentless at

NHA schools. Each month is assigned a
“moral focus” or virtue, which teachers are supposed to weave into their
lessons and students write about from kindergarten through eighth grade. Signs
in classrooms and hallways honor examples of virtue. Like other charter
schools, NHA promises parents to teach a rigorous curriculum that will prepare
their children for success in college. It also promises a moral education
imbued with traditional values such as love of country and family. Good
character is not just a private asset, NHA leaders believe. It leads to good
citizenship.

And
finally, there is the very sad story about Hamlet Garcia and his family. As
former California state senator Gloria Romero reports in the Orange County Register,

The latest arrest occurred in Pennsylvania
where Mr. and Mrs. Hamlet Garcia were arrested, handcuffed, made to perform the
"perp walk," charged and, if convicted, face up to seven years in
prison for enrolling their 5-year-old daughter in a school outside their Zip
Code.

The Garcias are naturalized citizens.
They own a local business. They were separated, during which time Mrs. Garcia
moved out and went to live with her father in neighboring Montgomery County,
enrolling their child in the local school. Eventually, the couple reconciled.
Rather than further disrupting the child's life, they left her in the school to
complete the academic year.

This is a school that is
under-enrolled. It has less than 10 minority students. The district dispatched
a private investigator to follow the parents. Based on this, the Garcia's were
arrested. Their offer to make financial restitution to the district was
declined. The district attorney vowed to "make an example of them."
Their first court appearance occurred this week.

As
we mentioned earlier in this letter and in last month’s mailing, in the
near future, CTEN will be conducting an internal poll to get your take on
various educational issues. Some suggested topics are:

·thoughts on Props. 30 and 32

·the Students
Matter case

·armed presence on school campuses

·common core

·the Smarter Balanced assessment

If you would like to add any suggestions to this list we will consider using
them in the poll.

As always,
we at CTEN want to thank you for your ongoing support. Please keep providing
feedback so that we can continue to meet your needs by keeping you informed as
well as provoking lively discussion.